By Paul Malone
February 27, 2010

Sam Burgess ... one of the off-season's most-hyped recruits. Brett Costello

Brisbane Broncos skipper Darren Lockyer fears for South Sydney's man of the moment Sam Burgess because of the hype surrounding the English import's NRL induction.

Burgess's standout performance for the NRL All Stars on February 13 won rave reviews from leading television commentators Gorden Tallis and Phil Gould.

Tallis, a former Australia captain, said the 21-year-old could be the best English forward to play with an Australian club.

Dual-premiership coach Gould described him as perhaps the most exciting young forward he had seen.

Burgess comes under the microscope again on Saturday night when he plays for the Rabbitohs in the Charity Shield match with St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium.

"Everyone is talking Sam up at the moment," Lockyer said.

"He does deserve the accolades he's getting, but I'm a bit worried about that because he's a good guy."

Lockyer endured intense attention during his teenage breakthrough at the Broncos.

"I hope he succeeds. I expect he will, but I hope we don't put too much pressure on him.

"You see kids getting a lot of wraps and it puts too much pressure on them.

"I wish him the best, but I don't want to make any bold predictions for him."

Lockyer was a teammate of the 195cm, 110kg Burgess in the the All Stars game, and was impressed by what he saw.

"I noticed with him in camp that he's easy to get along with, other than maybe not understanding him at times. His feet are firmly on the ground," Lockyer said.

"On the field he plays it tough and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty."

Souths will be hoping Burgess can strike a formidable back row combination with fellow recruit Dave Taylor, from Brisbane Broncos, as the Rabbitohs look to improve on a record of fours wins from their last five Charity Shield outings.